


Can't Bear to Lose

by Ray_Writes



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Episode Fix-It: s04e13 Journey's End, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-26
Updated: 2019-03-27
Packaged: 2019-05-28 22:36:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15059300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ray_Writes/pseuds/Ray_Writes
Summary: The DoctorDonna supposedly thinks of things the Doctor never would. Why not a way to fix the metacrisis?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah, this is another of those "Emerson uses something introduced later in New Who to save Donna" stories because the writers of actual Who are cowards and won't do it. This particular fixit utilizes the Mire, an alien species as seen in series 9's "The Girl Who Died". Anyway, I have more stuff written for this story, which is why I'm gonna have it listed as a multichapter, but I'm not really sure when I'll have the next update finished. Just felt like getting this out there for you guys. Let me know what you think, and enjoy!

It was an impossible choice all over again, and no matter which he chose the Doctor knew it would destroy him.

“Don’t make me go back. Please, don’t make me go back,” Donna begged, tears already close to spilling over.

“I can’t let you die. I can’t be what kills you, Donna,” he insisted, voice cracking.

“I’m dying no matter what,” she said, not even a hint of fear in her eyes. “Just let me stay. That’s all I want.”

He had no other arguments. Her family or friends’ wishes she would have already considered, never mind his. Even when it came to him, his thoughts and feelings were in her head; she could see past all his pretenses to how he really felt, but it hardly mattered when it couldn’t save her.

Donna doubled over, a hiss of breath escaping her.

“Donna,  _ please _ , you’re in pain. The metacrisis, there’s no way of fixing it or- or suppressing it enough to let you stay and not burn up.” It was useless, of course, to talk about solutions. They both knew that, and yet he couldn’t keep his mind from spinning on frantically. “You would have to be in a constant state of accelerated healing, and that’s impossible for a human.”

“Yeah.” Donna was smiling now, but it somehow only made it all worse. “It’s too bad I’m not one of the Mire,” she remarked with chagrin.

They both froze.

“The Mire,” said the Doctor.

“The Mire,” said Donna.

“Repair kit!” They cried together.

He nearly crashed into her as they both lunged for the controls. Quickly enough, they had themselves sorted and were flying through time and space.

The Mire, of  _ course _ , and absolutely brilliant! He hadn’t thought about them in ages; they were tucked away somewhere in his nine-hundred year-old diary, and somehow Donna had followed an errant train of thought in her-his-their shared mind to stumble upon it. It could work, it would  _ have _ to work, even if he hadn’t actually worked out how to convince a deadly warrior race to part with one of their highly prized repair kits. But he’d do anything if it would save Donna.

“Wait here,” he told her once they’d landed, then ran down the ramp. She caught the door before it could close and stepped out after him. “Donna! One of the deadliest warrior races in the galaxy!”

“Yeah, and you thought I was leaving you alone with them?”

“You need to focus on staying alive!”

A couple of the Mire came stomping into the corridor they had parked in. Too late now.

“Oh, er, hello. Can you communicate? Verbally, I mean. I was never quite clear on that.”

They parted and a humanoid in a ridiculous winged helmet stepped between them.

“Who dares enter the hall of Odin?”

“Odin, seriously? Look at us, you think we’re gonna buy that?” He gestured down at his and Donna’s comparatively modern attire.

“You know I’m starting to think the only reason they’re considered a deadly warrior race is cos they go up against people who are severely outmatched by them,” said Donna. She squeezed her eyes shut and brought up a hand to massage her temple, that bit of insight clearly costing her.

“Right, we’re on a tight schedule, so if you wouldn’t mind just lending us one of your repair kits—”

The so-called Odin finally got a word in. “You would make so bold a demand? Who are you?”

“Doctor, Donna,” said Donna gesturing to each of them in turn. Then she held out her hand palm up. “Repair kit,  _ now _ .”

To both their surprise, the Mire collectively dropped to one knee. Even Odin.

“The DoctorDonna! It cannot be!”

The two of them exchanged a look. News really did get around fast in hyperspace. This was possibly going to be easier than they’d thought.

“Yes, it can,” said Donna, taking a step forward. She planted her hands on her hips in what seemed to be her striking a pose.

Two of the Mire removed their helmets, and the Doctor was sure if Donna had not already had the knowledge of what they looked like underneath she would have recoiled at the sight. They each offered their repair kit up to her.

“Without the DoctorDonna, there would be no universe for us to conquer,” said Odin, his eyes cast respectfully to Donna’s feet. “Take this as our thanks to you.”

“Right, lovely,” said Donna. She did so and turned back to him. “Well, let’s not overstay our welcome, Spaceman.”

“Er, yes. Thank you!” He hurried after her back into the TARDIS and flew them back into the Vortex before their good fortune with the Mire could run out.

Donna was staring down at the kits in her hand. “Suppose we’ll have to recalibrate one of them for human.”

He stepped up to her with the sonic. “Here.”

She passed over one kit and pocketed the other while he worked.

“So this thing, it’s basically gonna make me immortal, right? Like Jack.”

The Doctor glanced up at her. “If it works, I think so. Possibly even more so. Jack is aging, if at an incredibly slow rate.”

“Yeah, I’m not keen about ending up in a jar in my old age.”

Huh, Donna knew about that. Well, she knew because he knew, and he supposed if that were the case then she also knew how Jack felt about his immortality.

He put the sonic away and held the kit between thumb and forefinger.

“Donna, are you sure? You have to be sure.”

She looked up and met his eyes, then gave a single nod.

“Okay.” He placed the repair kit against her forehead and watched as it sunk beneath her skin.

Donna’s eyes fell closed. They stood in silence that seemed to stretch on for an age. He found himself hoping, pleading to the universe itself,  _ just this once _ ...

She grabbed at his jacket suddenly, fists clenching tight. “Wait, wait, I’m forgetting things.”

“What things? Donna, concentrate.”

“I- I don’t know. There’s so much,” her head swayed from one side to the other. “There were people you knew, you traveled with them, and I can’t hold onto it. I’m losing their names.”

“That’s okay, it’s just my memories. The repair kit must have decided that’s what’s hurting you, so it’s eliminating them.” He placed his hands over hers. “Tell me about somewhere we went. You and me.”

“Um, well, we stopped at this mall in the 47th century for my birthday, and you gave me this card to use on whatever I wanted. Then we went for dinner at that place where the owner had eight arms and did really nice steak — except you wouldn’t tell me if it was space cow meat or something.”

She opened her eyes.

“I can’t remember if it was or not.”

“Because it’s in my head,” said the Doctor.

“And not in mine,” Donna finished. “I’m...normal.”

There was an undeniable disappointment to her tone. After everything she’d done, everything that had happened, somehow Donna did not believe being herself to be good enough.

The Doctor let her hands go in order to place his on her cheeks. “You’re extraordinary.”

She looked down. “Come off it. You don’t have to pretend.”

“I’m not pretending.” The Doctor paused for just a breath, then added, “Donna there was something in my head that you forgot, but I- I don’t think I want you to have forgotten it.”

“What was it?”

He stood there, paralyzed with fear. He’d never been any good at saying this sort of thing; he’d never known how. And yet he needed her to know just how important and special and brilliant and  _ loved _ she was all on her own.

So if he couldn’t tell her, maybe he could show her.

The Doctor didn’t give himself the time to second-guess. Her lips were already mere centimeters from his, and all he had to do was guide them together.

This latest face had had quite a bit of experience with kissing, at least more so than in recent memory, though he’d never received much in the way of feedback. There’d not really been much in the way of repeats before now either, distressingly. At the very least, this had to be better than when Donna had helped him detox by virtue of his mouth not being stuffed full of food. After all, Donna had yet to push him away, and he thought just maybe she was starting to kiss him back.

His nerves just about shot to Hell, the Doctor released her. Together they stood for a moment blinking in stunned silence. Oh dear. That probably wasn’t good.

His effort to step back was hampered somewhat by Donna’s hands still clenched around his jacket lapels. She let him go with an abruptness that had him teetering on his heels.

“Um, so that- that was the general idea,” he squeaked. The Doctor cleared his throat and hurried on. “Well, more an action than an idea, but the idea was sort of about that action. Well, more than the action itself. It’s not just all about, um, kissing and that. Not that there’s anything wrong with just wanting to kiss someone, but it- it’s more than that with you, for me anyway, and I was merely trying to convey my particular feelings on the subject and, um...you.”

“You done yet?” She’d watched him with arms crossed through all of this, her expression gradually transforming to a strange blend of exasperated yet fond. She often looked that way at him, which was rather unhelpful when he was trying to determine what she was thinking. What did it even mean?

“Yes — wait,” he said, thinking it over. Nothing that might save him came to mind. “Yes,” he finally decided.

“Okay, so here’s how I’m feeling,” said Donna. “How about we save the chatting for later just this once?”

He would have given some form of agreement, but then her hands were in his hair and her lips against his.

Oh. That’s what it meant.

—-

Donna thought she finally had this whole succeeding in life thing figured out. It had only taken almost forty years, a failed engagement and nearly dying several times over, but she was pretty sure the end result was worth it.

Hard not to feel that way curled up on the jump seat with a newly saved universe at her fingertips and a Time Lord seemingly permanently glued to her lips. She’d wondered idly what that oral fixation might add to a relationship, and the reality did not disappoint.

Though in all honesty, none of this felt quite real yet. The mutual change to their relationship, her own immortality. It all felt like an absurd dream.

But it occurred to her, gradually, that they really did need to be brought back to Earth.

Donna broke off with a gasp for breath. “Doctor.”

“Yeah?” His hair was even wilder than usual thanks to her, and there was a certain dazed look to him that she wouldn’t mind getting used to. Pity she had to put a stop to it all for now.

“We’ve got to tell my family.”

He blinked. “Oh.”

“I mean, this is huge.” She sat back a little and fixed the mess her own hair was. “Gramps said to leave mum out of all the alien stuff, but this isn’t something I can just hide from her.”

“I’m not sure even the aliens can be hidden from her at this point.”

Donna winced. Oh, she really was in for it once they got to her mum’s.

“Well, least she can’t kill me,” she remarked with a weak chuckle.

“Should I be worried for my safety?” He’d gotten up and was putting them on a course out of the Vortex. “Because I could always just wait in the TARDIS.”

“I don’t think so,” she said, crossing her arms. “You’re just as much to blame for this mess as I am. And you’re gonna help me explain it all to them if you want a repeat of what we were just doing.”

“Right, right,” he said with a theatrical sigh. “Oh, but Donna?” The Doctor’s face poked out from behind the time rotor. “Was that...good?”

She thought to tease him for a moment, but knew he was asking about more than his skill. Donna got up and walked around the console to his side. She wrapped her arms around him and felt him do the same.

“Yeah, Spaceman.”

It was raining when they landed outside her mum’s house, absolutely pouring, and the Doctor had to search in his pockets for a couple minutes for an umbrella.

“Must be a bit of atmospheric excitation.”

“From the move?”

“Yep. It’ll pass. Here we are!” He withdrew the umbrella, then offered her his other arm.

Donna took it and began the walk up the front path. “Just keep it simple, alright? Don’t even bother trying to explain to her what regeneration is. She thinks reincarnation’s a whole bunch of rubbish.”

“Right,” said the Doctor. “And what about, er, us?”

Donna weighed the pros and cons of putting that particular announcement off. “Best to take it one at a time,” she decided. And anyway, she wouldn’t mind a bit of time to keep it to themselves.

Gramps was already waiting just inside the door. “Well, here we are then! I told your mother you’d be back in no time. They’re saying everything looks normal up in the sky again. Stars and everything are right. I told her you two would sort it.”

Donna let go of the Doctor to hug her grandad.

“You’re both alright?”

“Oh, yeah. Some odds and ends fell over when everything was shaking there for a bit, but we’ll have it put right in no time.”

“Dad, is that Donna?” It sounded as though her mother was in the sitting room.

Donna sighed. “Yeah, we’re here, mum.”

The three of them continued into the house.

Her mother looked a bit frazzled but otherwise fine, though she frowned at the sight of the Doctor. “Hm, ‘we’ indeed.”

“Hello, Sylvia,” he greeted nonetheless. “So, you probably have questions.”

“Oh, I saw it all on the screen there,” she said, waving a hand vaguely at the laptop sitting on a little table to the side.

“Yeah, the conference call. Think they called it a subwave something,” her Gramps added.

“Hold on, how’d you get access to the subwave network?” Asked Donna.

“So it’s fine for you to go gallivanting about through space, but as soon as we do anything unexpected it’s a problem, is that it?” Her mother remarked.

It was not a good sign when she already felt like pinching the bridge of her nose. “That is not what I meant. Look, I’m sorry I didn’t say about the aliens and traveling, but I didn’t want you to worry.”

“No, why should I be allowed to worry if you’re going to run off into space and nearly get yourself killed?”

“Actually, Donna saved us all,” said the Doctor. Both her mum and Gramps turned to him in shock. “None of us, none of this would be here right now if it weren’t for her. The whole of creation is in her debt.”

She almost didn’t catch her grandad’s quiet, “Oh. Oh my.”

Her mother was for once utterly silent. Probably couldn’t even comprehend it.

It seemed Gramps had noticed as well, for he asked, “How did you do it, love? What happened up there with those Daleks?”

“Well, they had this bomb. A reality bomb, it was supposed to blow up everything. And I just turned it off.” Even without mentioning the whole having-the-Doctor’s-memories bit, it hardly sounded like anything.

“Oh, sure just turned it off,” the Doctor confirmed with a nod that seemed just a tad exaggerated. “Well,  _ and _ neutralized the entire Dalek fleet and their creator while also returning twenty-seven missing planets back to their place of origin, some of which had been gone for centuries.”

“That sounds like more than just turning it off to me, sweetheart,” said her Gramps with a proud smile.

“And that’s not even mentioning that she’s the one who even got us to the Medusa Cascade with all of you.”

“Hey, that’s our girl!”

The Doctor was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Yes, she is.”

“God, you two just encourage each other,” said Donna. She dreaded to think how they’d be once they told her family about their relationship!

“How did you find us?” Apparently her mum had gotten over her mute spell, though she was still much quieter than usual.

“Um, the bees. I saw something about how they’d been disappearing, and it turned out they were all following the same wavelength the Daleks were using to transport the planets.”

“The bees,” her mother echoed. 

Donna pushed some of her hair behind her ear and looked away. 

Then her mum added, “Well, that’s true. You don’t see them around much anymore.”

She found herself smiling just a little. Maybe it wasn’t over the moon praise, but she’d take it.

“Did we get the bees back, too?” Her Gramps asked.

Donna looked to the Doctor. 

“Uh...we’ll have to get back to you on that.”

She shrugged. Best to push on, then.

“Listen, there’s something I’ve got to tell you both, and you might want to sit down.”

Her grandad frowned. “Is it bad news?”

“No. Well, I don’t think it is.”

“More depends on your point of view,” the Doctor added.

“Gone off and eloped, have you?”

Her mother might as well have smacked Spaceman over the head with a wooden plank for how stunned he looked. “What?”

“I should have known.” Her mum shook her head. “A live-in PA? Well, suppose they have to call it something.”

“We did not elope,” said Donna. “He’s not paying me, and we’re not — well, we  _ weren’t  _ together. Sort of just decided on that before we came here.”

Her mother grumbled something in reply, though she couldn’t catch it over her Gramps’ delighted cry of, “Well, congratulations!”

Donna thought she had to be blushing for certain. Trust her family to make the whole thing as embarrassing as possible. “Yeah, this wasn’t actually the news I had to tell you.”

“Well, what else could it be?” Her mum asked. “It’s all fine now with the planets and everything, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but it very nearly wasn’t,” said the Doctor, who seemed to have recovered most of his composure. “See, to stop the reality bomb, Donna absorbed a ton of energy which is ordinarily fatal to humans. Luckily, we were able to borrow a medical repair kit from these aliens called the Mire, which Donna is currently using and will continue to use for, well…”

He’d been talking even faster than usual, probably to keep her family from interjecting, but now he trailed off with a look to her.

“Basically, I’m immortal,” she stated.

“Oh,” her Gramps breathed, eyes wide.

“You- you can’t be  _ serious _ ,” said her mother.

“We are. Look, it was the only way for me to still be here as me.” That was the closest she would probably get to telling them about the mind wipe that could have happened.

“But what happens when you get older?”

“She won’t,” said the Doctor. “The chip is designed to keep repairing forever.”

“Then what do we tell people? They’ll see she’s not aging. I mean, how can she have a life here?”

“Well, she’ll be going with him,” said her Gramps, pointing to the Doctor. “Won’t you?”

Donna nodded once. “Yeah.”

“But Donna, you nearly  _ died _ !”

“And now I can’t. It’s not like I’ll be going away forever,” she added. “I’ll visit just like before. As long as you want.”

“As long as we’ll be here, you mean,” her mother replied. Donna winced.

“Well, that was always gonna happen, love,” her grandad said. “All of us, we knew that.”

There was a long silence as the idea of it seemed to settle in the room.

The Doctor broke it. “Thing is, the Mire gave us two repair kits. One for Donna, and one for someone else. It’s her choice who to give it to.”

The silence resumed, heavier now. Her mum noticed her gaze and shifted slightly away on the couch.

“Well, don’t look at me. I don’t want any part of this nonsense.”

“Mum,” said Donna.

“I’ve never wanted to live forever. I mean, it’s just not realistic. And I — well, I don’t think I could face it without your father,” she added, eyes on the floor.

Donna looked down as well. “Yeah,” she agreed. “Suppose you’re right.”

“Wilfred?” The Doctor asked, already guessing at her next move.

Her grandad shook his head. “Oh, no, I couldn’t. Eileen’s waiting for me, and I’ve had a good life. No use wasting that thing on an old man like me.” He reached over and took her mum’s hand. “Anyway, wouldn’t be right without both my girls. No one ever wants to outlive their children, Doctor.”

Donna winced. It wasn’t as if her Gramps could know the Doctor was already well aware of that pain.

He forced a thin smile. “Quite right, too.”

Donna reached for his hand, and he squeezed it tight.

“Guess I’ll just hang onto it for now,” she said.

They sat about with her family for a little while longer, mostly fielding her grandad’s questions about the Daleks and the planets and whatnot. It was clear that her mother was still not very happy with the latest development, and so Donna stood up and made their excuses.

“Best to give her time to process,” she told the Doctor as they entered the TARDIS. And really, Donna wanted the times she had left to spend with her family to be happy ones; that was something she had to keep in mind now.

“So,” said the Doctor, breaking her out of those thoughts. “New trip?”

The whole of creation had nearly blinked out of existence this very day, and he wanted to just carry on, new trip? She ought to say no; she couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen her own bed. But she had the rest of existence to sleep. Why not distract herself with a bit of adventure?

“Alright,” she told him, and grinned right back when he did.

He wasn’t aiming for anywhere in particular, that much she could tell. A surprise for both of them, then. That ought to be good. Or bad, knowing them.

They stepped out into a snow flurry and a square full of people straight out of Dickens.

“Oh, this is lovely!” The Doctor spun about looking this way and that.

But Donna picked up a strain of carolers not far from where they’d parked. She groaned.

“Is this what I’m being subjected to now? An eternity of Christmases?”

“Oh, come on, Donna! Look at it! Nearly like a picture print!”

She rolled her eyes, but couldn’t keep frowning in the face of his sheer joy. If it made him happy, she could put up with a bit of Christmastime. Even if they’d just been in bloody summer.

Off in the distance, they heard a woman’s shouting. “Doctor! Doctor!”

Donna looked at him. “You been here before, then?”

He shrugged, just as clueless as her. Typical. “Let’s find out.”

Hands clasped together, they took off across the square.

They found the young woman who was screaming her head off, though she hardly seemed to notice them running up to her.

“It’s alright, we’re here,” said the Doctor. “Ooh, and what have we got?”

The double doors the woman was standing in front of suddenly jolted as though something had thrown its weight against it, and Donna thought she made out a growl as well.

“Definitely not something friendly,” she remarked.

“Right. Whatever’s behind that door, you’ll probably want to leave,” he told the woman.

“Doctor!” She shouted again, though she wasn’t even looking the right way.

“No, no. I'm standing right here.” Spaceman even added in a little wave. “Hello.”   


She finally turned to look at him properly. “Don't be stupid. Who are you?”   


“I'm the Doctor,” said the Doctor.

“Doctor who?”

“Oh, don’t do that,” said Donna.

The woman cast a glance her way. “And who are you?”

“Donna. And he’s just the Doctor.”

“No he isn't. There can’t be two of them.”

Before either of them could try to comment, a man ran up to the woman’s other side. He was tall and wore a long coat, vest, and funny tie.

“Where the hell have you been?” The woman yelled at the newcomer.

“Right then. Don't worry. Stand back. What have we got here, then?”    


“Hold on, hold on,” said the Doctor. “Who are you?”   


The man cast a brief look his way. “I'm the Doctor. Simply, the Doctor. The one, the only and the best.”

Donna’s jaw dropped. “No  _ way _ .” 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I originally planned to include a bit more in this chapter, but recapping The Next Doctor took up a lot more pages than I was hoping. That being said, most of what will be now in the next chapter has already been written, so it hopefully won't be too long of a wait on that. Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think!

A totally new, totally different Doctor. His next regeneration, had to be. The Doctor — her Doctor, anyway — hadn’t already recognized him, which meant this was the him from the future. But then, wouldn’t this one have recognized  _ them _ ?

“I assure you, I am,” said the man who’d said he was the Doctor. The smile he directed at her was vacant at best. “Rosita, give me the sonic screwdriver.”

Barely had Rosita done that before the double doors banged open and a weird sort of furry, sort of metal thing leapt out and landed halfway up the wall of the opposite building.

“I’ve been hunting this timorous beastie for a good fortnight,” said the would-be Doctor, who appeared to be pointing an  _ actual screwdriver  _ at it.

“‘Timorous beastie’?” Donna barely managed to hold in a laugh. She looked to her Doctor. “What, would you actually say that?”

The Doctor shrugged. “Jamie did. Anyway, that thing looks like some sort of primitive conversion, like they took the brain of a cat or a dog.”

This other Doctor didn’t appear to appreciate either of their inputs. He had Rosita fetch him a rope which he managed to actually get around the thing, only then it proved to be a good bit stronger than him.

Of course, Spaceman had to go and latch on, too.

“Oi! You get down from there. If that thing drops you, you’re gonna wake up craving frock coats and tie pins!” Donna noticed Rosita staring at her. “What?”

“What the hell are you on about?”

“Well, you’re his companion, aren’t you? Sort of the job to tell him he’s being an idiot.”

“I know that. What, are you his companion?”

“Yeah. I mean I’m—” Donna looked up at the pair of Doctors. The other one hadn’t even seemed to notice her. How long had it been? And how did that even matter when she was bloody immortal now? “Has yours not even mentioned me?”

“No,” said Rosita. “Oh brilliant, there they go. You idiots!” She took off running, and Donna followed up some stairs and into the dusty top floor of the warehouse. The weird robot animal was charging right at them with both Doctors helplessly along for the ride.

“Oi, Rover! Sit! Heel!”

“Why’d you call it Rover?” The Doctor managed to shout.

“Well, you said it’s a dog!”

“Or a cat!”

“We’re gonna fall!” The other Doctor cried.

But just as the thing leapt passed Donna and out the window, Rosita slammed a heavy axe down, cutting the rope. Both the Doctors laid there for a moment before the other one started laughing, which her Doctor joined in. Then they got off the floor and hugged.

“Well, that’s nice isn’t it?” Rosita didn’t actually sound as though she thought it was nice. “You’re a mess!” She set about trying to brush the other Doctor’s clothes off and then shooing him back out of the warehouse. “We’ve got to get out of here before somebody complains.”

Donna waited while her Doctor shook out his overcoat a few times. “So that’s it, then? He’s really you?”

“Not sure. Seems to be, but then he hasn’t acknowledged me yet.”

“Yeah, and just where the hell am I?” She pointed out. Wasn’t he at all concerned about that?

“Right, well, something’s going on. Best to stick with him till we figure out what.” He reached for her hand, which helped her feel a little better.

Donna couldn’t help that her mind was reaching the worst conclusions as to how she and this future Doctor had gone their separate ways. She’d gotten sucked into a wormhole and was trapped for all eternity. Or maybe they’d had a nasty breakup and she was sitting in a space bar somewhere drowning her sorrows. That one sounded like her. Lovely to know they didn’t even have a future together when they’d only just started out.

She’d so thoroughly zoned out that she hadn’t even noticed they’d caught up with the other Doctor and Rosita or that her Doctor had started talking with him until he said, “No, I'm, er, I'm just. Smith. John Smith. This is Donna. But we’ve both heard of you. Bit of a legend, if I say so myself.”

“Don’t you just,” Donna muttered.

“Modesty forbids me to agree with you, sir,” said the other Doctor. Donna snorted. “But yes. Yes, I am.” That was more like it.

“A legend with certain memories missing,” her Doctor added. “Am I right?”  
  
“How do you know that?” His future self asked.  
  
“You've forgotten us.”  
  
“Great swathes of my life have been stolen away. When I turn my mind to the past, there's nothing.”  
  
“Going how far back?”  
  
“Since the Cybermen,” said the other Doctor, as if that made any sense.

“The what-men?” Asked Donna. It sounded vaguely familiar, but she knew she’d never met one.

“Masters of that hellish wall-scuttler and old enemies of mine, now at work in London town. You won't believe this, Mrs. Smith, but they are creatures from another world.”

Donna let her mouth fall open in a exaggerated way. “ _ No _ . Really? Hang on, why am I Mrs. Smith?”

“Uh, because I’m Mr. Smith,” her Doctor muttered.

She looked back at him. “Seriously, even  _ you _ think we’re married?”

“Well, aren’t you?” Asked Rosita.

“No,” they both said.

“Noble. Donna Noble,” she added.

“Oh, forgive me,” said the future Doctor. “I only assumed — but the funeral! It’s at two o’clock. It’s been a pleasure, Mr. Smith, Miss Noble. Don’t breathe a word of it.”

“Oh, but can’t we come with you?” Her Doctor asked.

“It’s far too dangerous. Rest assured, I shall keep this city safe.” He started to walk away with Rosita, but turned back to add, “Oh, and Merry Christmas to the both of you.”

“Merry Christmas, Doctor,” said the Doctor. He watched them walk away.

“So we’re following them, right?”

He grinned at her. “Right.”

It seemed the other Doctor and his companion were not, in fact, going to a funeral, but the house of the man whose funeral it was. They watched from a distance as he sent Rosita off somewhere else then snuck around the side of the house.

The Doctor let them in with the sonic through the front door, then they went to the back to get his future self.

He was fiddling with the lock when they pulled the door open.

“Hello,” said her Doctor.

“Fancy meeting you here,” Donna added.

“How did you get in?” Asked the other Doctor.

“Oh, front door. I’m good at doors.”

“When they’re not jammed.”

“That was  _ one  _ time, Donna.”

“And you’ve brought Miss Noble with you,” the future Doctor said with a frown. “This is hardly work for a woman.”

“Oh, blimey,” her Doctor muttered with a nervous glance at her.

“Right, you’re an alien from a totally different planet, but you’ve got ideas about proper women’s work, have you?” Donna remarked, hands on her hips. She turned away and marched back down the hall. “Least I can see why we split,” she muttered.

“Donna!” The Doctor called after her.

“I’m looking for alien stuff!” She hollered back, hoping he would just leave her be for enough time to get over this should-have-been-expected upset. This was always the way, wasn’t it? Just when she’d thrown her lot in with someone they always left her holding the bag. And this time, permanently.

She could hear the Doctor conversing with his other self as they followed her at a slower pace, something about a schoolteacher who’d been killed along with other deaths and abductions. Donna told herself to stop feeling so miserable over her future prospects and to get a move on with helping the people who were in trouble now.

She wandered up the stairs and into something like an office. There was a writing desk standing to one side of the room. Donna opened it and found a couple of metal cylinders that were decidedly not Victorian.

“What do we think?” She asked, marching back into the upstairs hall with one in each hand.

Her Doctor’s face lit up. “Oh, brilliant, Donna!” He took them and passed one to his future self. “These are infostamps. I mean, at a guess. If I were you, I'd say they worked something like this.”

He pointed the one he was holding at a wall and pressed a button. Images started to be projected.

“See? Compressed information. Tons of it. That is the history of London, 1066 to the present day. This is like a disc, a Cyberdisc. But why would the Cybermen need something so simple? They've got to be wireless. Unless, they're in the wrong century. They haven't got much power. They need plain old basic infostamps to update themselves.”

The future Doctor didn’t appear to be listening at all. He was staring at the device in his hands with a sort of muted horror.

“Are you alright?” Donna asked, trying not to let it bother her when he jumped at the hand she laid on his arm.

“I’m fine,” he tried to dismiss.

“No, what is it?” Said the Doctor. “What's wrong?”

“I've seen one of these before. I was holding this device the night I lost my mind. The night I regenerated. The Cybermen, they made me change. My mind, my face, my whole self.” The other Doctor looked up at her Doctor. “And you were there. Who are you?”

“A friend. I swear.”

“Then I beg you, John. Help me.”

“Ah. Two words I never refuse. But it's not a conversation for a dead man's house. It'll make more sense if we go back to the TARDIS. Your TARDIS. Hold on. I just need to do a little final check. Won't take a tick. Donna, stay with the, uh, Doctor.”

“Right, because that makes everything so clear,” she said, but nevertheless stayed put as he’d requested. 

Even if he’d hurt her with his words, she couldn’t help feeling badly for this version of the Doctor. It was clear something horrible had happened to him before. And what he’d said about her Doctor being there that night. Was that how he’d regenerate? Alone, surrounded by enemies, forced to die and lose his mind? How could she have let that happen?

“Listen, we’ll figure it all out. That’s what he — I mean, you do. And we help you. You’ll see.”

“I thank you for your kindness,” said the future Doctor. “Though perhaps it is your forgiveness I should be asking for. You’ve certainly proved yourself just as invaluable a companion as John. He is right to keep you so near.”

Well, there was something. Donna allowed herself a small smile. “Yeah, well, just cos we’re in Old London Town doesn’t mean we have to act like it.”

A loud crashing noise came from out by the steps where the Doctor had gone. When she and his future self ran to find the source, they came upon her Doctor kicking a strange metal person down the steps. There were more advancing behind it, what she could only guess were those Cybermen she’d missed while scuba diving all those years ago.

“ _ Delete _ .”

“The Doctor, remember? I'm the Doctor!” Her Doctor shouted. “You need me alive. You need the Doctor, and that's me!”

He was knocked down by one of them a second later. Donna cried out and tried to find something that might help, but there was only an umbrella lying abandoned on the floor.

A beam of light suddenly shot out from beside her, and Donna looked to see that the future Doctor had popped open part of the infostamp and aimed it at the Cybermen. They all fell to their knees and moments later their heads exploded.

Her Doctor leapt up almost instantly. “Infostamp with a Cyclo-Steinham core. You ripped open the core and broke the safety. Zap! Only the Doctor would think of that.”

“I did that the last time,” his future self practically mumbled. He looked half out of it still.

She touched his arm again, and this time he didn’t flinch. “It’s alright.”

Her Doctor toned down the manic energy as well as he crossed the floor to join them. “Come here. You’ll be okay. Just let me check.”

“You told them you were the Doctor. Why did you do that?” The future Doctor asked.  
  
“Oh, I was just protecting you,” her Doctor lied, not looking up from where he seemed to be feeling his other self’s wrist for some reason.  
  
He was growing increasingly agitated. “You're trying to take away the only thing I've got, like they did.”

“No, no, Doctor,” said Donna. “It’s not like that at all. We’re only trying to help.”

“They stole something, something so precious, but I can't remember. What happened to me? What did they do?” He didn’t seem at all like he had been before. He was lost, utterly broken.  
  
“We'll find out. You and me together,” her Doctor promised.

“Come on. We should get back to your TARDIS. And Rosita, right?” Donna suggested.

The future Doctor was slow to rally, but he eventually nodded. “Yes. Please, follow me.”

They did, though Donna couldn’t help noticing her Doctor did so with a frown. “What’s the matter?” She muttered to him.

“Only one heart,” he replied just as quietly. Donna felt her eyes widen.

They reached an alleyway where Rosita came out to meet them by hugging the future Doctor — or who was supposedly the future Doctor.

“You've been gone for so long. He's always doing this, leaving me behind,” Rosita told them. “Going frantic.”

“Well, we had a chat about that,” Donna said. “Shouldn’t be happening any longer.”

They went into a stable their hosts claimed was their temporary base of operations. “Er, what’s all this luggage?” Her Doctor asked.

“Evidence. The property of Jackson Lake, the first man to be murdered,” the other Doctor answered.

She watched her Doctor surreptitiously retrieve the sonic. Donna distracted Rosita and the other Doctor by asking how they’d met while Spaceman did his thing. Apparently this Doctor had saved Rosita from one of the Cybermen. So it had been after the attack where he’d lost his memories then. That wasn’t going to help them get to the bottom of things.

But her Doctor surprised them all by finding another infostamp in Jackson Lake’s luggage and declaring that the answer to the other Doctor’s missing memories was in his TARDIS, and they were led out into a yard behind the stables to see it.

“You’re  _ kidding _ me,” Donna breathed.

“You’ve got a balloon,” her Doctor said needlessly.

“TARDIS. T-A-R-D-I-S. It stands for Tethered Aerial Release Developed In Style.”

“Oh, it does, does it?” Donna asked with a smirk.

The Doctor asked a few more questions about it, which she had to resist teasing him about. What, did he want to swap?

Things eventually turned more serious. “I think I've worked it out now. How you became the Doctor. What do you think? Do you want to know?”

They went back inside, where the Doctor took up the infostamp again and began a story, explaining how the Cybermen had even got here in the first place, and then tying in the story of Jackson Lake. “And just like you, exactly like you, he took hold of an infostamp.”

“But he’s dead,” the future Doctor insisted. “Jackson Lake is dead. The Cybermen murdered him.”

“You said no body was ever found. And you kept all his suitcases, but you could never bring yourself to open them. I told you the answer was in the fob watch. Can I see?”

His counterpart handed his watch over, and Donna leaned in for a look as her Doctor opened it. There were initials engraved on the inside.

“J.L.” She looked up at her Doctor. “Jackson Lake?”

Rosita turned from them to the other Doctor — or not, as it had turned out. “Jackson Lake is you, sir?”

He seemed just as confused as the rest of them, until the Doctor showed them the contents of the infostamp Jackson Lake had taken with him that night. It was all information about the Doctor, and all of it had gone into the poor man’s head. Donna knew the feeling.

But eventually he said, “I am nothing but a lie.”

Donna shot the Doctor a look, but he was already amending himself. “No, no, no, no, no. Infostamps are just facts and figures. All that bravery. Saving Rosita, defending London town, hmm? And the invention. Building a Tardis. That's all you.”

But Jackson Lake was still insistent that something wasn’t right. “I demand you tell me, sir. Tell me what they took.”

The Doctor hesitated. “Sorry. Really, I am so sorry, but that’s an awful lot of luggage for one man.”

Donna gasped, her mind reaching the conclusion his already had.

“What you suffered is called a fugue. A fugue state, where the mind just runs away because it can't bear to look back. You wanted to become someone else, because Jackson Lake had lost so much.”

“I remember,” Jackson Lake said, barely above a whisper. “Oh, my God. Caroline. They killed my wife.” Tears were forming in his eyes. “They killed her.”

No one could think of anything to say, not even Rosita who merely laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. She and the Doctor moved to the far side of the stables as the clock struck midnight to allow the man some time to grieve anew. Donna cast a pitying look back at him, but was distracted by her own Doctor’s — and the only Doctor — voice.

“It explains one thing at least.”

Donna looked at him, curious.

“The last time I ran into the Cybermen was before we ever met. You wouldn’t be in their records of me.”

“So that’s why he didn’t recognize me.”

“Yep.”

The relief seemed to hit her in one huge wave, and Donna threw her arms around him. “Oh, thank God!” She exclaimed, though she remembered to keep it hushed so as not to disturb Jackson Lake.

He had hugged her back automatically, but she heard the confusion in his voice. “Donna?”

“I thought — oh, I don’t know what I thought. But this whole time, with him not knowing me or acting like he didn’t know me—”

“Oh, Donna. You didn’t think something had happened with us, did you?”

She pulled back to look at him. “Well, what exactly was I supposed to think?”

He shook his head. “Regeneration might change the outside and some basic preferences or qualities, but not what’s in here.” He touched a hand to his chest. “No matter how different I might seem, I would never try to push you away like that.”

She wanted to say more, but a beeping noise suddenly started up from the infostamp he’d laid down near Jackson Lake.

“What is it?” Rosita asked.

“Activation. A call to arms. The Cybermen are moving!” The Doctor raced out of the stables with Donna following right behind. It wasn’t the Cybermen they found marching, though; it was children, dozens of them.

“What’s happening? Where are they being taken?” Donna asked.

Rosita came out to join them as the Doctor attempted to get information from one of the men leading the children along. He wasn’t successful, though that probably had to do with the cyber device in his ear more than anything.

“It looks like they’re heading for Broadback Lane,” Rosita said. “This way.”

She helped them find where the children were being led to, only they were soon caught by a couple more Cybermen. A woman was with them who had sided with them. Why did people ever side with the obviously evil aliens? Donna wasn’t even going to feel bad when they inevitably killed her.

According to Miss Hartigan the children were being used as a workforce to build something the Cybermen were going to use presumably to take over the city. Typical, as well as typically Victorian. 

Before they could be killed, however, Jackson Lake showed up with more infostamps which he used to incapacitate the Cybermen. Rosita knocked down Miss Hartigan and they were running, hoping to use the basement passage in what was supposed to have been the Lakes’ new home as a way into the stronghold where the children were being kept. The stopped in the basement momentarily to pick up a device the Doctor said the Cybermen had used to get here, then were on their way through the passage.

“What do the Cybermen want?” Rosita asked as they made their way through.

“They want us. That's what Cybermen are. Human beings with their brains put into metal shells. They want every living thing to be like them.”

Donna stopped, causing Jackson Lake to crash into her back. “Oh my God! Really?”

The Doctor looked back. “What? Yes, Donna, of course they are.”

“Well, you never said! I thought they were just robots!”

“If they were robots I would’ve called them robots!”

“That is  _ disgusting _ . What do they do with the rest of us?”

“We really don’t have the time,” he decided, taking her arm to get her moving again.

They got into the building with the children and fought off the Cybermen guarding them as they worked with more of the infostamps. Donna and Rosita began ushering the children out of the building while the ground shook and a giant Cyberman rose to stand high above London. Donna wondered how many brains that one required, then decided she didn’t want to know.

A shout from Jackson Lake drew her attention. “That's my son. My son. Doctor, my son!”

One little boy was left standing trapped on a platform. She couldn’t see any way of getting to him.

Except the Doctor had apparently held on to that sword and was able to cut a rope and swing up on to the platform and back with the boy like bloody Robin Hood. If not for the outright joy on Jackson Lake’s face or the fact that he'd just saved a little boy, Donna might have called him a showoff.

As it was, they were all forced to flee as the giant Cyberman finished displaced the water from the Thames and flooded the place.

“Just head south,” the Doctor instructed Jackson Lake and his son.

“But where are you going?”

“To stop that thing.”

“But I should be with you.”

“Jackson, you've got your son. You've got a reason to live.”

“And you haven’t?”

“Well, he’s not gonna die if he knows what’s good for him,” Donna said. “Are we going or not?”

“Donna—”

“Immortal, remember?”

The Doctor shut his mouth. Jackson Lake looked between the pair of them. “God save you both.”

With that, they parted, heading back to the stables for more infostamps and transport.

“Is this a bad time to mention I’ve never been keen on hot air balloons?”

“Come on, Donna, what’s the worst that can happen?” He helped her into the basket then jumped in after. “You can’t die.”

“Yeah, that doesn’t mean it’ll be pleasant.”

They rose up into the air until they were on level with the thing’s face. Though sitting in the mouth was Miss Hartigan along with several normal-sized Cybermen. This whole thing was bonkers.

The Doctor attempted to plead with Hartigan. “The Cybermen came to this world using a Dimension vault. I can use that device to find you a home, with no people to convert, but a new world where you can live out your mechanical life in peace.”  
  
“I have the world below, and it is abundant with so many minds ready to become extensions of me. Why would I leave this place?”  
  
“Because if you don't, I'll have to stop you.”  
  
Donna did  _ not _ like the deja vu she was getting right now.

“What do you make of me, sir? An idiot?”

“Well, I sure do!” Donna shouted, pushing past Spaceman. “If your mind’s so brilliant, you’d think you’d realize you were crushing a bunch of those minds you want to join yours underfoot!” She risked leaning a little further out of the basket. “Look, from one lady to another, I have seen this play out before. If you don’t take the nice option, you are going to die. Just take the nice option. It’s Christmas.”

Hartigan was silent for a long moment, clearly considering it. “Destroy them.”

“Oh for crying—”

Something beeped in their basket.

“What’s that?”Donna asked. 

“The Dimension vault. It’s ready,” the Doctor said.

“Then use it!”

He did. Swirls of energy surrounded Hartigan and the whole giant cyber thing making it vanish just as the cyber thing had finally raised it’s ginormous canon-arms.

“Well,” said the Doctor after a beat of silence. “A bit close to the wire, but not so bad.”

“No. Suppose not.”

Down below, people began cheering. They looked at each other in surprise. “Reckon that’s for us?”

Donna shrugged. She watched as he grinned, then leaned over to ring a bell in the basket. She took the opportunity to look down over the city since they were up here anyway, only something caught her eye. “Oh no!”

“What’s wrong?”

She looked back at him with wide eyes. “When the cyber-thing came out of the water—”

“Cyber _ King _ , Donna—”

“Will you listen to me? All the flooding, we- it — the Thames. It’s drained again.”

They stared at each other for a very moment. Then one or the other of them snorted, maybe both, and they were set off laughing. Donna came back into the middle of the basket as he opened his arms for a hug, then she tilted her head back to kiss him even as breathless as she was. It was an awful long while before they got down from there.

It wasn’t until daylight that they managed to make the trek all the way back to where they’d parked the TARDIS, with Jackson Lake accompanying them. He told them of his future plans now that he had his life back and that Rosita would be staying on to help him raise Frederick in the place of his late wife.

“Frederick will need a nursemaid, and I can think of none better — present company excepted, of course,” he added with what he probably thought was a respectful nod in her direction.

“Look, I get you really  _ are _ a human from the Victorian era, but you could still really work on it.”

He had the grace to turn a little sheepish. “I will aim to, Miss Noble. Truly, Doctor, even in my confusion I should have worked everything out much sooner. Only the Doctor could have such a bright and shining companion.”

Donna darted a look at the Doctor, who seemed equally thrown as to how to answer.

“Oh. Well, in a way, she is, but sort of  _ more _ than that.”

“We’re sort of together now. A bit together.”

Jackson Lake gave them a knowing look. “That was certainly not part of the information I received. But it gladdens me to hear it.”

He invited them to the Christmas feast, which they declined as politely as possible, the Doctor because he didn’t do domestic and Donna because she didn’t do Christmas. And with that, they departed. Donna also declined another trip because she really  _ did _ want her bed now after everything.

As she changed into her pajamas, it occurred to her she’d first put these clothes on back before their trip to Shan Shen. It seemed like ages ago, but she supposed in a few millennia it would be hardly any time at all.

What a weird day. Part of her was a bit relieved they hadn’t just met the Doctor’s future self, but another part of her was equally aware that was an eventuality she had to prepare for. As long as he remembered her and wasn’t too much of a twat, she thought they’d be alright.

And even if he’d been a little too Victorian for her tastes, at least they’d managed to help reunite the not-Doctor with the family he had left. He’d latched onto the Doctor’s memories out of grief and loss, but now that he’d remembered he was human, he still had something to live for.

The more she thought about Jackson Lake and the light that had sparked in his eyes upon rediscovering his son, the more she thought of her grandad’s words.  _ No one ever wants to outlive their children. _

No one.

And as she laid on her bed and closed her eyes for sleep that wouldn’t quite come, the beginnings of an idea began turning itself over in her mind.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been debating posting this one for a few days because it's a good bit shorter than the previous chapters, but it does seem the best place for a break between this and the next chapter. So sorry for the wait and the shorter update, but at the least you can all see what Donna's idea was and the immediate results of it. Please enjoy!

Recently, Donna had been quiet. Lost in her head. The Doctor tried not to let it bother him.

But it did.

What if she was having second thoughts about the repair kit? Eternity was a long time, and while Wilfred and Sylvia were still a phone call or a short trip away, to an immortal like Donna, that would be over in no time at all.

She probably resented him. Maybe she’d been the one to think of the Mire, but she only had because it had been in his head. It was his fault she was this way, there was no way around that. Of course she resented him.

He decided to give her her space, heading under the console for some long-overdue maintenance. He’d only been at it for an hour that particular day, however, when Donna came to find him.

“Spaceman?”

“Yeah?”

“So I was thinking about the other repair kit.”

The Doctor climbed out from under the grating. “Did you decide who you wanted to use it on?”

“Maybe.” She chewed on her lip for a moment, and the Doctor found himself increasingly curious. He hadn’t thought they’d met anyone recently that Donna had gotten that attached to.

“How soon do you have to use it on somebody for it to work? If they’re injured or- or dead, even.”

He blinked. “Um, well, hard to say. I think there’s a bit of a grace period. Probably if I studied the mechanics a little more extensively I could give you a better answer. Why?”

“Well, I was sort of thinking — if it were possible, I mean, that we could, um, go back and- and,” she stammered, twisting her fingers around each other and not quite meeting his eyes.

“Donna, what is it?” He was starting to fear the worst, but surely Donna wasn’t about to suggest reviving a family member that had passed on. She wasn’t irresponsible that way, and she’d have to realize the repercussions on time—

“Jenny,” she suddenly blurted. “I thought we could go back to Messaline and use it on Jenny.”

His mouth fell open, but he couldn’t find his voice.

“Cos we didn’t see her funeral, right? So who’s to say she even had one? It wouldn’t be rewriting the timeline. We just go back after we left.” She took a step towards him. “Would that be okay?”

“Okay?” He echoed numbly.

“I’m not bringing it up just to make things worse.” Donna was watching him nervously, clearly thinking she’d overstepped. “I only mean, if it’s possible, that’s what I want to do.”

The Doctor had a million thoughts and questions, but he only managed a hoarse, “Why?”

“Because Gramps was right,” she said. “Nobody should have to live without their children. And I know I can’t make it all better, but if I can even do this much—”

Of course. “Donna, the chip is for you to use on someone  _ you  _ can’t lose. Not me.”

“You don’t think I miss her, too?” She wasn’t indignant, though she easily could have been. “My family’s both said no, there’s no one else I’m gonna meet—”

“You might—”

“I’m with  _ you _ , you prawn,” she replied in the same breath. “That’s not changing now or ever. I am happy the way things are. The only person I could see fitting here in our life is Jenny.”

Now that she’d pointed it out, he was having a hard time not agreeing with her. Selfish though it probably was, the Doctor was rather accustomed to how things were with him and Donna both on their travels and the TARDIS, and an unknown interloper was bound to upset that. But Jenny would be different. Jenny with her wide-eyed, unbridled enthusiasm and her limitless capacity to learn.

Donna wasn’t done either. “And the way things happened, doesn’t she deserve another chance at life? Don’t  _ we _ deserve another chance to get it right?”

His hearts were both doing funny things and he thought it’d probably be better if he were sitting down. But he was frozen where he was.

Jenny. He could have Jenny back. He could have his  _ daughter _ back. They could be a family, not the same as the one he’d had before but no less important or special or beloved. And losing them would never be an option.

“Doctor.” Donna’s voice was as soft as the hands she laid on his chest. He met her eyes. “Will it work?”

“I think so,” he mumbled. “If we time it right, just after we left. Should still be enough for the chip to work with.”

“And then we have Jenny back.”

“And then we have Jenny back,” he repeated, a wondrous smile stretching over his lips at the words.

Donna was smiling back, so brilliant and beautiful, and he was overcome.

A laugh escaped in a single burst from him, and the Doctor kissed her, arms winding around her waist and pressing them together. He needed desperately to be as close to her as possible. They’d not had a chance to since their trip to Victorian London.

Somehow one or the both of them walked her back against one of the coral struts, and Donna’s hands were in his hair as his lips descended down her neck seeking more and more.

Between each kiss he gasped a, “Thank you,” into her skin.

“Well, don’t thank me yet,” she teased, a little breathless but not enough to stop her talking. “Let’s go and get her.”

He looked up, momentarily stunned by Donna’s hooded eyes until her words finally registered. “Right! Okay, just let me recalibrate the repair kit for Time Lord!” The Doctor raced off down the corridor and made it about halfway to his workroom before he stopped in his tracks.

“Looking for this?” Donna asked when he re-entered the console room at a sheepish trot. She held out the device in question.

“Yes, thanks.”

He took it, kissed her cheek, and left again, though not before catching her smirk as she shook her head at him.

Him, Donna, and Jenny, just like it was supposed to have been. The Doctor could hardly find it in himself to wait.

—-

The TARDIS had barely finished materializing when the Doctor wrenched the doors open. Donna made sure they’d actually parked before hurrying after him.

She didn’t blame him for his impatience; seeing his excitement made her all giddy, and she was eager to see this greatest of injustices finally undone.

“Hello?” Spaceman called.

They’d landed in the room where Jenny’s body had been laid out, only it was empty. A white cloth still rested on the table, but there was neither human nor Hath present, much less a Time Lord.

“Where is everyone?”

“Don’t know. Hello?” He paced to the archway that led out of the room and down into the tunnels. “What- what was the boy’s name?”

“Cline,” said Donna.

“Cline!”

It wasn’t long before the human and his Hath counterpart came running to meet them. “You’re back!”

“Yes, we are.”

“You’re in different clothes,” the boy noticed.

“Right, we changed,” Donna replied, hoping to get them back on topic.

The Hath bubbled something.

“Oi, that better not have been anything rude!”

“Cline, where is Jenny?” The Doctor asked.

“Jenny?” The boy looked at each of them. “Well, er, it’s a bit odd.”

“What do you mean?”

Donna could tell her Spaceman was on edge, but it didn’t sound as though they’d been too late. Rather that something unexpected had gone on in their absence.

“She sort of…” He started, seeming confused more than anything. Cline turned to the Hath, who bubbled again. “Well, yeah, guess I am telling her dad.”

“Cline,” said Donna. “Just try to explain what happened. Doesn’t matter how strange, we’ll believe you.”

“Well, we were preparing the ceremony, only this gold smoke sort of left her mouth and she woke up.”

“ _ What _ ?” They shouted together.

“It was like she’d never been shot. Just completely fine.”

“Hold on, gold smoke?” Donna turned to the Doctor. “Is that regeneration?”

“It can be a side effect of one that’s recently happened,” he told her.

“But she didn’t change?”

“Maybe her being born counted as a regeneration. Hard to say when she’s the only Time Lord like her in existence. One of a kind.” The Doctor wasn’t quite looking at any of them, seeming to need a minute to process his shock. Donna thought he sounded a tiny bit proud nonetheless.

Then he looked up. “Cline, where is she?”

“Er, well that’s the thing. She left.”

Donna’s mouth fell open.

“Left? Left for where? What’s there to leave in?” The Doctor spat each question out one after the other too fast for anyone to hope to answer. “You haven’t even got a proper atmosphere yet!”

Cline gestured vaguely behind him. “We had the settler’s rocket. She took that.”

“Oh, my God,” said Donna. “Well, if there was any doubt left she was  _ your _ daughter—”

“How long ago did she leave?” The Doctor was already asking. “Do you have some sort of tracking system for the rocket?”

“We didn’t even know we had it till today,” Cline reminded them. “I’d say she left within a half hour.”

“Half an hour,” the Doctor echoed, his hands going up into his hair. He paced away from them. 

“How far do you think she could get?” Donna asked.

“Depends on the make of the rocket, the speeds it could reach. But I don’t even know what all they had on board.” He spun back around towards her, and, thick as she knew it was, she really did have to worry about his hair with the way he was nearly ripping it from his head. “What if there was no navigation system? She’s got no idea what’s out there. She could be flying it straight into a asteroid belt!”

“Okay, well, let’s not panic,” said Donna, which seemed useless to her when she wanted nothing more than to panic. “We’ll just have to look. Find the nearest planets or- or asteroids or what have you and see if she’s landed there.”

“That could take ages!”

“Well, good thing I’ve got the rest of my eternal life then!” Donna stepped forward and tugged his hands down. “We’re going to find her, Doctor. No matter how long it takes.”

His harsh breathing gradually calmed as she held his gaze. Then he swallowed and nodded once.

“Where do we start?” Donna asked him.

“We’ll need a map of the surrounding planets in this system. The TARDIS should be able to provide one. Come on!”

The Doctor took her hand and raced right back into the ship. He let her take care of most of the dematerialization process while he started bringing up information on the monitor screen.

“It’s going to be important to get the timing right, too. If we land too early or too late we’ll miss her.”

“How do we know if we’ve got the timing right?”

He looked up at her. “Uh, well, we’re mostly guessing.”

Donna snorted. “Brilliant. Business as usual, then.”

There was one marked difference, though. This time, they weren’t just wandering. They had a goal, something to set their sites on.

And though she hoped it’d be short, their search for Jenny was bound to be quite the adventure.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeahhhh, it's been a while. But I finally managed to write out what I wanted to happen in this chapter, and I hope you enjoy it as something of a New Years' treat!

They’d been to ten planets already, and so far there was no sign. What if she was back on planet number three and had simply arrived the day after they’d left? What if the rocket had malfunctioned? What if she didn’t know how to fly it properly? She could be adrift out there in space and they might never find her until it was too late.

The Doctor’s mind was beginning to chase itself in circles with these questions. He’d thought everything would be alright once they went back to Messaline, yet now all he felt was a fresh wave of guilt and self-loathing.

He had abandoned his daughter. Yes, he’d thought Jenny was dead, but if he’d been able to bring himself to remain for the funeral he would have been quickly disabused of that notion. His policy of not looking back had cost him dearly this time.

He’d been squinting at the scanner readings for the last two hours, trying to pick out the most logical path Jenny could have taken to not have ended up in any of the places they’d yet to take. His eyes were growing irritated from staring at the screen so long and kept trying to close. Or maybe it was just that they needed a break in general...

A hand landed on his arm and he jerked back upright, eyelids blinking rapidly. “What? What’s happened?”

“Nothing. You just fell asleep standing up.”

One of the downsides to Donna suddenly being immortal. She was starting not to sleep as much as she used to, and she was there to see him fight against his own exhaustion.

“Spaceman, you need to rest.”

“I’ll rest once we’ve found her,” he said, shrugging off the hand Donna had moved up to his shoulder.

She frowned. “We don’t know how long that’s gonna take. And I know you’re running on fumes and out of ideas. The best thing you can do for Jenny right now is to rest up and attack it from a new angle in the morning.”

In the very depths of his mind, the Doctor knew Donna was making perfect sense; she always did. And perhaps he might have listened to her in any other circumstance.

But he shook his head. “And what if overnight the worst happens?”

Donna perches a hand on her hip. “You’re just assuming the worst.”

“I’m not,” he insisted, but he knew that alone wouldn’t be enough. Donna wasn’t the type to let these sorts of things go without explanation. Not that he’d expect her to. “You have to understand. This was exactly what I was afraid of, Donna.”

“What do you mean?”

“When you convinced me to accept Jenny. I didn’t want to because, well, partly my own stubbornness. I know that. But also—” He closed his eyes and sighed. “I was never a good father. Before.”

She was silent.

“I loved them, but I suppose I loved the traveling more. Or I wanted it more because I couldn’t have it and have a family,” he confessed. “I was dissatisfied on Gallifrey. And I left them. All of them — well, all except Susan. But even her I left behind eventually. Just like I left Jenny.”

“But that’s not the same,” she said. “You didn’t mean to leave her. We didn’t know she could come back. Martha thought—”

He looked back at her. “Martha was working with what she knew, but I should’ve known better. I let her convince me it was over because maybe I wanted it to be. So I didn’t have to wait and find out how I’d fail later.”

Donna’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t.”

He fell silent.

“I know you feel you’re destined to repeat past mistakes, but isn’t the  _ point _ of living to nine-hundred-whatever that you learn from those mistakes and move on? It’s not enough to have regrets, Doctor. You’ve got to act on that change you want to see,” Donna said, her tone gentler by the end. “And that starts with taking care of yourself so you can look for Jenny properly instead of staggering about half-dead on your feet.”

The Doctor’s shoulders slumped. “Alright, Madame, you’ve made your point.”

“Good.” She reached down and took his hand, tugging him towards the corridor.

“Er, where are we going?”

“To bed.”

His eyebrows rose high enough it ought to have hurt. “Er, Donna—”

“Oh, not like that, you prawn. Not yet, anyway,” she muttered, and the back of her neck had gone a bright red. She chanced a look at him over her shoulder. “But I doubt you’ll do it on your own, so that’s the way it’s got to be.”

The Doctor harrumphed to himself. “So sorry to inconvenience you.”

Her lips quirked. “You’re grumpy. Sleep will do you some good.”

She led them into her room and directed him onto the bed where she left him for a while as she changed in the bathroom. He barely got a look at Donna’s nightclothes, for she scurried under the covers and turned the lights off almost immediately after emerging from the en suite.

There was a pause as they both considered what to do now, and it occurred to the Doctor that he’d never shared a bed with Donna before.

“Donna, if this is too — I mean I’d rather you not be uncomfortable for my sake.”

She found him in the dark and wrapped her arms around him in a determined sort of way. “I invited you, Time Boy. Wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t want you here.”

He hadn’t been paying too much attention to Donna’s wants the last few days, he realized with regret.

“I’m sorry if I’ve put our, um, relationship on hold somewhat.”

He felt her hands rub up and down his back, which was both unfamiliar and nice.

“Nothing to apologize for. I’m worried about her, too.”

He risked ducking down to press a kiss to the top of her head, letting his face linger there in her hair a moment or two.

“I’ll make it up to both of you,” he promised. “Soon as Jenny’s found.”

With that, he allowed himself to relax in Donna’s arms, which turned out to be far easier than he might have believed.

—-

The next day found them at much the same routine as before. They’d stopped on a smaller planet she’d scarcely had time to hear the name of before Spaceman was leading them around asking the locals if they’d seen someone like Jenny.

“She would have come in on a rocket. A kind of ship. Do you know—?”

“No ships have come in. But there was, out in the grove, something came down.”

“A ship?” Asked Donna. “Has anyone arrived in town since?”

That got a shake of the head. “Nothing comes out of there.”

“Well, we will,” the Doctor decided. He turned tail and Donna was left to give a rushed goodbye before hurrying after him.

“Do you think it’s her?”

“I hope so. If not, someone’s out there and probably needs help.”

“Right,” Donna agreed.

They left the town and entered the tougher terrain of the grove. Well, grove was putting it nicely. Sharp looking bushes that rose up to the knees at the shortest stretched out as far as the horizon. She was glad she’d opted for jeans and long sleeves, that was for certain!

“Looks a bit rough,” she remarked as they exchanged a look. “Still.”

Spaceman nodded. “Still.”

With that, they plunged forward. It was just as prickly and unpleasant as she’d been expecting, but Donna resolved to keep her complaints to herself for once. If it was Jenny out there, she could brave a little discomfort.

“You know, it’s good she didn’t change.”

The Doctor glanced back at her. “How do you mean?”

“I mean cos if she’d changed we could walk right past her and never know.”

“Well, she’d know us. Do you really not like the idea of changing?”

“Well, you don’t seem to,” she retorted. “But don’t get all nervous. I’m not about to up and leave you. I’ve already put up with Victorian you.”

“That wasn’t even me.”

“Yeah, well the point is,” Donna huffed as she swung her leg over a particularly high bush. Her hand was caught by the Doctor, who’d reached out to keep her steady as she worked her way across. “You can change fifty times over and I’m not leaving.”

“No, I can’t.”

“What?”

“I’ve only got one more regeneration left,” he stated, perfectly calm.

“What, there’s a limit?” She demanded.

“Twelve times, yeah.”

Donna let go of his hand and stopped walking. “And how long does one usually last?”

“Oh, it varies. Time Lord bodies age much slower than humans, for one thing. And if you avoid accidents — in my first body I nearly made it to five-hundred alone.”

“Yeah, and what about the last body?” She asked, feeling rather sure she wouldn’t like the answer.

“Well...not nearly so long,” he admitted.

“Right.” Donna paused, then started walking again. “And poor Jenny’s already lost one. We ought to find her sooner than later so you can explain all this to her.”

The Doctor hummed an agreement and was on the move again as well. She let him go, not really wanting him to notice her troubled expression.

She’d assumed, this whole immortality bit, that he’d be there. But now he was telling her there was a limit, and a fast-approaching one by the sounds of it. Donna wasn’t prepared to imagine a forever that didn’t have him in it.

She wasn’t sure how long they walked on in silence. The Doctor was keeping just a few steps ahead of her, though he kept slowing and then starting back up again. Donna had to wonder how much good that rest the previous night had done him. She’d rather be curled up and bed with him at the moment regardless.

She was pulled from that more pleasant recollection as the Doctor abruptly shucked his overcoat and dropped it onto a bush before marching onward.

“Oi! This isn’t the TARDIS. You can’t just toss things to the side and expect them to be in your closet the next day.” She waded over to the right and scooped the coat up, careful not to poke herself with the brambles that clung to it.

“Keeps getting caught,” the Doctor called back in explanation. “And it’s too hot besides.”

She could agree with that. Her bangs were sticking to her forehead with sweat, but Donna plowed on ahead to keep up.

It wasn’t so hard as usual. What was unusual was him admitting at all that he was uncomfortable. Did he just feel less pressure to seem invulnerable now that she wasn’t the same, fragile human she once was? Or was something more going on.

Donna jogged a few paces to come up to his side. “Doctor, what do you think they meant back there, that nothing comes out of here?”

“Doesn’t matter.” His eyes were fixed dead ahead. “Nearly there.”

She followed his gaze and saw one end of a familiar looking ship rising up from the branches in the distance. “It’s the rocket. Oh, that’s got to be her!”

Her heart suddenly felt much lighter, and she stomped over the next few thickets, uncaring of the scratches they managed to leave on her hands — but she faltered at the sound of something falling over behind her.

Donna whirled around just as the Doctor landed hard in some bushes, sprawled on his side.

“Doctor!”

“Got to...keep…” he mumbled as his eyes slipped shut. Donna looked about in a panic — had some unseen foe attacked them? — and her eyes caught a flash of green and blonde.

“Jenny!”

The girl they’d been searching for was lying not five feet from her, prone and unconscious like her father. It looked as though she, too, had been trying to make her way through the thick growth covering the landscape.

The plants...had that warning been about them? She turned her hands over, examining the scratches, but couldn’t tell anything about them that might make them more dangerous. Either way, she clearly hadn’t been effected, which meant it was up to her to get them out of this mess.

Donna looked between the two fallen Time Lords. What did she do?


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short one, but fortunately I think I know how I want this fic to end, so the next update shouldn't be too much of a wait. At any rate, thanks for being patient with this one, guys. Enjoy!

Donna focused on her breathing, trying to get it under control. She was fine; hell, she was indestructible. There was no reason for her to panic, because it wasn’t going to help these two any.

First thing was to get them away from this awful thicket. But there was already one clear problem: she could only manage one at a time, if that.

“Okay, okay, get organized,” she told herself. “Jenny first.”

The girl had been in here for who knew how long, and Donna had a responsibility just as the Doctor did to keep her safe. He’d want his daughter out of here first. Donna moves forward and bent down, scooping Jenny up into her arms. She wasn’t light, but it wouldn’t kill her.

Donna draped the Doctor’s coat over him before she left, guilty at having to just ditch him there for a time. But no one else was likely to be coming through.

If it had been hard work getting into the grove, it was even harder leaving. She was already tired and hot, and now she had Jenny weighing her down. A couple times, Donna nearly tripped and toppled them both over. But she had to keep going.

Jenny felt incredibly hot to the touch, especially considering she was a Time Lord. Was it poison? An infection? She’d need medical treatment right away.

“Help! Is there a nurse or a doctor or someone!”

Donna started her shouting when they were still about five minutes out from clearing the bushes. By the time she broke out of them with Jenny, a small crowd had gathered from hearing her voice.

“Please, she’s sick!”

The local man from before stared at her with wide eyes. “You came out. How did you survive?”

“Not important right now, mate. Got another to bring out.” She passed Jenny into the arms of a capable looking young man. “Get her to hospital.”

“But you can’t go back in!” One of the women cried.

“No, see, definitely do.” She’d be damned if Spaceman wasted his last regeneration on some bloody shrubs.

Donna did her best to move faster this time, now that she knew her way. She could even see the path she’d cut through before from the bent or broken branches. Her heart was pounding in her ears and there was a tickle at the back of her throat begging for water, but she was alive. As long as that remained true, she wasn’t planning on stopping.

The Doctor was right where she’d left him. A part of Donna had hoped she’d find him up and about, having expelled the toxins through this or that bizarre process. No such luck this time, and she wasn’t kissing an unconscious man on the mouth, boyfriend or no.

“Alright, let’s hope that skinny frame of yours is good for something,” Donna grunted as she got her arms under the Doctor. She heaved and groaned but had him up high enough as to risk transporting him. His legs were left dragging over brambles and the like, and she worried it might only be making things worse. But she had to get him out of here.

Sweat was running down the sides of her face as she blundered through branches and tugged every time his shoelaces or something caught on a twig. He didn’t open his eyes once during the whole ordeal, and his breathing was slow.

“I take it all back,” Donna huffed as she reached the edge of the grove at last. “You’re not allowed to put on more weight. Not if this is happening again.”

Some of the locals had remained behind, and they gathered around her and the Doctor in awe as she kicked her way out of the last patch of scraggly branches.

“Oi, he needs hospital, too! And can someone help carry him!”

—-

What felt hours later, Donna was still pacing in the narrow hallway inside the small hospital. There had been no word about either Time Lord, and Donna was starting to get very nervous.

At last, a woman in a yellowish gown walked out of a room and approached her. “You are the one who brought these two out of the grove?”

“Yeah, I was. How are they?”

She shook her head. “There are no known cures for the Peraxi toxin. That they are still alive is a miracle in and of itself — but more remarkable is that you are completely well.”

“No, hang on,” said Donna. “There’s no cure?”

“No. They are both still breathing, but I believe the toxin is merely taking longer to work through their systems. They have physiology that is unfamiliar to us.”

“They’re from an extremely small population. But if the toxin isn’t finished can’t we, I don’t know, bleed them? Use leeches? I know that stuff was bad, but it couldn’t have killed everyone they tried it on!”

“I am sorry,” the woman said, and she did look it. “There is nothing we can do.”

“But there’s something I can do. Let me in to see the Doctor — the man,” she clarified. “He’s got something of mine in his coat.”

After only a little bit of pressing, Donna was allowed through to the Doctor’s room. He was lying there even paler than usual, with sweat still pouring off him.

“Oh, Spaceman. I’m sorry.” She should have realized the grove was dangerous. She should have cautioned him, gotten them to land the TARDIS near the rocket crash and gone out to search herself. Because now there was a problem.

Donna dug around in the pockets of his trench coat until she found it. The repair kit.

It had already been configured for Time Lord. She had two sick and dying Time Lords. And only one repair kit.

Donna sank into the single visitor’s chair and placed her head in her hands. What was she going to do? They’d agreed before to use the kit on Jenny in the event that they had actually found her still dead in Messaline. But now she wasn’t. And both her and her dad were dying this time.

They had regenerations. Jenny had more, at least as far as Donna knew. But if she gave the Doctor the kit, and not Jenny, eventually Jenny would run out of regenerations and the Doctor would live on. Past his child. Precisely the scenario Donna had been trying to avert.

Then there was her own feelings. She couldn’t even imagine the idea of losing the Doctor, which she would at some point if he ran out of regenerations. But she knew it would only be worse if he lived an eternity of guilt for having taken the repair kit from his daughter. Either way, Donna was going to lose him; and either way, she would lose one of these two special people in her life.

“Why did it have to be just one extra kit?” Donna felt around her forehead. “Is there some way to uninstall this thing?” But there didn’t appear to be any way of removing it. She would have to choose. And soon, if she wanted it to make a difference.

Eventually, Donna stood, her heart heavy. She approached the Doctor’s prone form. “I love you. Really, I do. So that’s why I’m doing this.”

Then she turned and left the room, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand.

“Excuse me?” She called to the man sitting behind the reception desk. “The girl that I brought in, I’d like to see her, please.”

“Of course. She’s down that hallway, second on the right.”

“Thank you.”

Donna drew in a breath and squared her shoulders. She’d made her choice.

But just as she reached the doorway, a bright, golden light shone around the cracks and through the small window pain. Regeneration energy. Oh God, had she been too late?

Donna threw open the door, one hand shielding her eyes. “Jenny?”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is going to be the last bit of this one. Thanks for everyone who waited over the months, and I apologize for the latter chapters being on the shorter end. In future, I'm writing all my Ten/Donna multi-chapters out completely before starting to post them so I don't end up running out of steam or inspiration or anything like that. At any rate, I hope people like the conclusion to this!

Jenny awoke with a breath. A breath of life.

Just like before on Messaline, her mouth opened of its own accord and a golden light slipped out, shining around the room. The room she didn’t remember ever getting to, but those were small details.

Scarcely had she awoken when a door banged open and a familiar voice shouted her name.

“Jenny?”

“Donna?” Jenny sat up to have a proper look, dislodging some monitors attached to her. But there she was right in the doorway, her dad’s best friend and one of Jenny’s two favorite humans! “I can’t believe it, it’s you!”

“ _ You _ can’t believe it? That’s what I’m supposed to be saying right now, Miss!” Donna accepted her hug easily enough. When they pulled apart, the other woman left her hands on Jenny’s shoulders. “But look at you! You didn’t change.”

“Change?” Jenny’s head cocked to the side. “Not sure what you mean. I think I was dying, but then I wasn’t.”

“But you should have regenerated!”

“What’s a regenerated?”

Donna shook her head. “He’s really gonna have to catch you up on all this Time Lord stuff — oh God, your dad!”

“What about him?” The Joy Jenny had felt upon Donna’s entrance diminished as it occurred to her that her father should be here, too — he wasn’t ever very far from Donna. So that had to mean something was wrong. “Where is he? And how did you two find me?”

“We went back to Messaline because we had this kit. It was supposed to — well, never mind. They told us you’d run off so we’ve been searching the nearby star systems for weeks. Came here and heard a rocket had gone down in this poisonous thicket, so we went in. Course, we didn’t know it was poisonous at the time, but it wasn’t till we’d about reached you when the Doctor collapsed. I brought you both out of there as quick as I could, but he’s not doing well, sweetheart.”

“Dad’s been poisoned?” And all because he’d been looking for her? Jenny felt absolutely wretched at the thought.

But the door to the little room they were in opened, and a person in a sort of robe entered.

“You are awake!”

Jenny was soon swarmed by a couple of the robed people, all poking at her and taking readings. One of them was checking a readout from a machine by the bed she’d been laying on.

“Donna, when can I see my dad?”

“Just let them work, Jenny. I still don’t understand what’s gone on with you.”

“It’s impossible,” one of her caregivers stated. “We were told of your two hearts, but they both stopped. Yet you live.”

“That’s cos of the species she is. I think,” Donna said. “Jenny, you haven’t changed, but when you died did it sort of feel like you were on fire for a bit?”

Jenny frowned and shook her head. “No. Whenever it’s happened, it’s always been sort of pleasant.”

Donna was frowning now. “Then I don’t see how you could have regenerated. I mean, nothing about what’s happened to you is consistent with that whole thing. Something else must have saved you.”

Jenny still wasn’t sure what this regenerate-thing was that Donna kept going on about, so she stated, “I assumed it was the Source. The first time, anyway.”

“The Source?”

“Well, because it sort of glowed gold when dad broke it open to begin the terraforming. And when I woke up, it was with the same sort of glow. New life, new world.”

Donna stood there in silence for a moment. “You died while the Source was still spreading over the planet. It’s job was to create life. Maybe...maybe it got a hold of you — merged with you or something — and that’s why you live without changing. Oh my God, Jenny, you’re immortal, too!”

“I suppose I am!” She hadn’t spared too much thought for it, but that did seem to be what was happening to her. Though that did beg another question. “Wait, who else is immortal?”

Donna pointed to herself. “Me! I got this repair kit as a gift from these aliens for saving them and a bunch of other people, but in doing that it was sort of killing me. Now I can’t die. That’s how I got you and the Doctor out of that grove on my own, cause I’m constantly being repaired.”

“So you don’t even have to die first to be brought back to life?” Jenny asked.

“Nope,” Donna answered, popping the ‘p’ in a way somewhat reminiscent of her father. “I’d say I’m doing one better than you and Captain Jack.”

One of the caregivers timidly stepped forward. “Your companion, he has also been granted immortality?”

“Oh, no. The Doctor’s just got a regeneration left. But who’s to say it’ll work? He’s not been showing any signs of it starting.”

Jenny worried at her lip. “Isn’t there something we can do, then? You said you were coming back to Messaline for me even though you thought I’d died.”

“Yeah, cos I was given two kits, so we were gonna use the other on you. But now you’re already immortal,” Donna realized. She and Jenny both reached out for the other’s hands.

“Dad can have the second one!”

“Right, come on!”

The two of them raced from the little room. Jenny could only hope they weren’t too late!

—-

The Doctor came round slowly. Not that he really knew he was coming round. He didn’t remember dropping off in the first place. But he must have, for he was laying on a bed with some machines attached to him.

“Donna?”

“Right here, Spaceman,” said her voice to his left, and he looked. Standing there were both Donna and Jenny, each wearing the widest smile.

“Jenny.” The Doctor sat up, impatiently swatting the monitors aside. “We found you. We — what happened?”

“Well, while you both decided to take a nap in some poisonous bushes,  _ I _ hauled you back to town and got you set up in hospital. Only they didn’t have a cure, so I had to use the repair kit.”

“On me?”

Donna nodded.

“But Jenny.” How was she cured of the poison without the kit? How wasn’t he supposed to lose her now? And more importantly, why was Donna still grinning?

“That’s alright, dad, I’ve already got it sorted,” his daughter assured him. “I’m immortal on my own.”

“What?”

“We’re pretty sure the Source sort of messed up when it was terraforming the planet,” Donna explained. “See, she doesn’t change when she dies. And she says it doesn’t hurt, either, so it can’t be regeneration that’s happening. She just keeps getting brought back.”

“And because the Source was a sort of golden light, it only  _ looks _ like this regeneration thing you two are going on about,” Jenny finished. Blimey, he hadn’t even gone over the basics with his Time Lord daughter, had he?

His immortal Time Lord daughter. Who was next to his immortal...partner? The Doctor wasn’t sure what label he and Donna had on things, now. Obviously they were together and friends, but she was hardly a girl, and to refer to him as a boy of any kind seemed almost impudent. Considering now that he, too, was immortal. At least, that’s what it sounded like.

“I have the other repair kit?”

“Yes, Sunshine,” Donna said, clueing him in that he was being particularly slow today. “So I reckon this is it for you, then. This face, I mean. Right?”

“Well, given the mechanics of the kit, I’d say so.” The Doctor regained his feet and touched a finger to his cheek. “Not a bad one to land on, I think it’s safe to say.”

Donna rolled her eyes. “I should’ve let you regenerate first. Get a less vain one. Then again, keeping Victorian you in mind—”

“That wasn’t me.”

“You still make very little sense, both of you,” Jenny decided.

The Doctor grinned and pulled her into a hug. “Well, maybe over the years you can make some more sense of it. Look at you!” His daughter, alive. And she wouldn’t ever not be. Neither of them had to lose the other.

All thanks to Donna. The Doctor let Jenny go after a good long moment, and turned to Donna, kissing her soundly on the lips. “Have I mentioned yet today how brilliant you are?”

“You’ve been unconscious for most of it,” she remarked.

“Right, the poison. That’s a pretty big grove, isn’t it? Doesn’t seem very fair the locals have to contend with that. I’m sure we can whip something up in the TARDIS to work as an antidote.” He held out an arm each to the pair of them. “Allons-y!”

“Here we go,” Donna sighed, taking his arm.

“So when you said you two weren’t together, was that a lie or just something recent?” Jenny asked. “What have you been up to since Messaline?”

“Oh, that’s in the past,” the Doctor said. “We’ve got the future, now!”

Despite knowing they had all of forever, he couldn’t wait to get started.


End file.
